Collar stretching and ironing device



July 31, 1934.

W. M.v (:HACZE, JR

COLLAR STRETCHING AND IRONING DEVICE Filed July 29, 1933 7 I I I r 1 Inventor 5 v w W a H 1 Patented July 31, 1934 UNITED STATES- PATE NT OFFICE COLLAR, STRETCHING AND moms.

DEVICE Application July 29, 1933, Serial No. 682,813

3 Claims.

Lill and unless the collars are stretched back to their normal size they remain in the shrunken condition when delivered to the owner. This difficulty is particularly pronounced with collars directly attached to shirts, since with the usual ironing apparatus it is substantially impossible to insure that the collar will be restored to its true size, and further diificulty is encountered with smoothing and ironing out the interior portions of the collar and the neckband to restore their smooth condition.

Even though the collars are carefully pressed with ordinary apparatus, considerable moisture is left in the neckband or interior portions of the collar, and it is, therefore, desirable to dry the neckbands thoroughly in order to stiffen themand to maintain the correct shape of the collar during packing and further handling of laundered shirts.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to 3d provide a method for ironing the interior sections of a collar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for ironing the interior sections of a collar to shape the same to conform with the normal contour of the neck of the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for readily ironing the-interior sections of the collar, and for stretching the same to restore the collar to its original size.

40 Another object of the invention is to provide a device for readily stretching and ironing a collar in a single operation to restore the same to its normal size and to insure smoothness of the neckband.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for evaporating all moisture not removed by the collar pressing machine.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a study of the following specifications, read in connection with the accompanying drawing,

wherein Figure 1 is a vertical elevational view, partly in section, of, a collar pressing device constructed in accordance with my invention;

e5 1 Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the 'collar sizes the collar will descend upon the ironer manner of operation of my collar pressing de.-. l vice; and

Fig. 3 is a detail, cross-sectional view illustrating one form of my invention.

Referring to the drawing, I have illustrated in Fig. 2 my collar press as comprising a suitable base 1 which may be supported upon a table or upon any other support by attaching the same thereto as by means of screws or bolts 2.

The base 1 is illustrated as being secured to an upright support 3, preferably of tubular construction, upon the upper end of which is secured a flange 4 constituting a support engaging a collar ironer 5. The collar ironer 5 is illustrated as being formed of metal of hollow construction, the outer contour of which is preferably an elongated cone of circular cross section, the outer walls 6 of which taper inwardly and upwardly to terminate in a rounded upper end 7.

The interior of the collar ironer 5 is illustrated as including a hollow chamber 8 which extends substantially throughout the entire length and breadth of the ironer 5 except for the thickness of the metal walls 6.

While my collar ironer may be made in difierent sizes and different shapes, I prefer to employ the conical construction ,herein illustrated with the diameter of the cone at various points along its vertical height corresponding exactly to the diameters of collar sizes. The circumference of the cone should be identical with the smallest size of collar in general use.

I have indicated upon the wall 6 of the ironer 5 a plurality of marks or lines 9 constituting graduations indicating points along the height of the ironer at which the circumference of the cone corresponds to collar sizes. For example, the uppermost of these lines is designated by the legend 12, corresponding to collar size No. 12; that is, if a shirt having a size 12 collar is placed over my ironing device and is drawn downwardly into snug relation therewith, the upper edge of the collar will coincide with the graduation line bearing the legend "12, while with increasing to bring the upper edge of the collar into registration with the graduation line thereon corresponding to that particular collar size.

My ironing process is primarily designed for use after the shirt is ironed or pressed in the usual manner, during which operations the exterior portions of the collar are ordinarily ironed out smoothly. Such ironed shirt may then be placed over my ironer, as is illustrated in Fig. 1, 1m

to stretch and iron the neckband or interior por-. tions of the collar.

Due to the fact that during the laundering process the collars have a tendency to shrink, the collars when initially placed upon my ironer will not quite register with the desired mark.

Thus the operator will know that the collar must be stretched to conform with the proper collar size and this may be readily done by pulling the collar down over the conical surface of my ironer until the proper graduation is exposed. This will insure that the collar is stretched to the desired size.

When the collar is stretched to the desired size the operator may then give the collar a slight oscillatory movement about the smooth surface of my ironer to smooth out the interior sections of the collar which are in contact with the outer Walls of my ironer, and in this manner not only insure that the collar will remain at the desired size, but will also insure that all wrinkles will be ironed out and the interior portion of the collar or neckband will be stiffened by the ironing process to hold the collar at its correct size and to maintain the finished ironed appearance of the collar during packing and transportation thereof.

I prefer to supply heat to the ironer 5 to increase its smoothing and ironing efiiciency and to provide suihcient heat to dry out the neckband .or other interior portions of the collar, such heat being applied in any suitable manner, though I prefer to employ steam as the heating medium which may be readily introduced to the interior of the chamber 8 in the ironer 5 through a suitable inlet pipe 10. The pipe 10 preferably extends upwardly into the ironer to a point just below the upper end of the' ironer so as to insure heating of the upper end thereof, as well as to heat the remaining portions of the ironer. An exhaust pipe 11 may be provided leading from the lowermost portion of the chamber 8 to carry the condensed steam, or to remove the spent steam, from the ironer. The tubular construction of the supporting post 3 may readily be employed as a housing through which the steam and exhaust pipes may pass.

If it is desired that the ironed collar should lie flat to thus occupy less space when packed, the cross section of my ironer 5 may be changed from circular to triangular configuration with the corners thereof rounded oif, as is shown in Fig. 3,

eas es so that while retaining the vertical tapering shape for the collar, the back portion of the collar-will be relatively flat, thus permitting it to be pressed into substantial alignment with the shirt when the shirt is packed for delivery.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to any of the details of construction shown herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a collar stretching and ironing device, I an ironer comprising an elongated hollow metallic member, heating means therein, said member having an outer surface uniformly tapering in the direction of the longitudinal axis thereof and having lateral cross-sectional dimensions at different points along the longitudinal axis thereof conforming with the interior of progressively increasing collar sizes, whereby a col lar may be stretched to its proper size and allowed to dry while in its stretched condition on said device, andineans for supporting said device in a substantially upright position with its smaller end uppermost.

2. In a collar stretching and ironing device, an ironer comprising an elongated hollow metallic member having a collar stretchingsurface, means for supplying heat to the interior of said member, the collar stretching surface of said member being uniformly tapering in the direction of the longitudinal axis of said member and having lateral cross-sectional dimensions at different points along the longitudinal axis thereof conforming with the interior of progressively increasing collar sizes, and graduated collar size indications on said member, whereby collars of different sizes may be successively stretched each as to its proper size and allowed to dry in its stretched condition to the normal size of said collar, and means for supporting said device in a substantially upright position with its smaller end uppermost.

3. The method of ironing the interior of col lars attached to shirts which consists in ironing the exterior portions of the collar, buttoning the front edges of the neck band portion of the collar together, stretching said collar by drawing it over a tapering heated form until that point is reached where the collar is of its proper size, and 1251 drying on said form in its stretched condition.

WILLIAM M. CHACE, JR. 

